U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is beginning his seventh diplomatic mission to the Middle East since the Israel-Hamas war began more than six months ago
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday begins his seventh diplomatic mission to the Middle East since the Israel-Hamas war began more than six months ago. He has his work cut out for him.
The war has ground on since Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attacks on Israel with little end in sight: more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed, hundreds of thousands more are displaced and a humanitarian crisis in Gaza is worsening.
The conflict has fueled mass protests around the world that have spread to American college campuses. U.S. support for Israel, particularly arms transfers, has come under particular criticism, something the administration is keenly aware poses potential problems for President Joe Biden in an election year.
Just ahead of Blinken’s visit — which includes a little more than a day in Saudi Arabia before stops in Jordan and Israel on Tuesday and Wednesday — Biden spoke by phone Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Blinken’s trip comes amid renewed concerns about the conflict spreading in the Middle East and with once-promising prospects for Israeli-Saudi rapprochement effectively on hold as Israel refuses to consider one of the Saudis’ main conditions for normalized relations: the creation of a Palestinian state.
Here is a look at the main issues Blinken will tackle:
The Biden administration has been working closely with Egypt and Qatar for months to negotiate a deal between Israel and Hamas for the release of Israeli hostages abducted during the Oct. 7 attacks that launched the war in exchange for a temporary but extendable ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel. Those negotiations, while ongoing, have yet to bear fruit.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration has been warning Israel against a major military operation on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians have fled to escape fighting further north. Israel has not yet launched such an offensive, but Netanyahu has repeatedly said that one will take place, asserting that it is the only way to wipe out Hamas.
Both topics were discussed during the Biden-Netanyahu phone call on Sunday, according to the White House and U.
